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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25777606">California Kids</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiraisstillhere/pseuds/kiraisstillhere'>kiraisstillhere</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AFTG Summer 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All For The Game - Nora Sakavic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AFTG Summer 2020, Bisexual Kevin Day, M/M, Mentioned Jeremy Knox/Jean Moreau, Summer, Surf Instructor Aaron Minyard, Surf Instructor Andrew Minyard, aftg summer, andrew is trying to flirt, jeremy is just here for a good time, kevin day is pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:21:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25777606</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiraisstillhere/pseuds/kiraisstillhere</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which former city boys Kevin and Neil meet surf instructors Aaron and Andrew through a certain Jeremy Knox.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kevin Day/Aaron Minyard, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AFTG Summer 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863595</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>127</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>AFTG Summer 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>California Kids</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>for AFTG Summer 2020! August 6th/Day Four: Outdoor Sports</p><p>once again, thank you so, so much to <a href="https://twitter.com/chbvnny/">andre</a> for organizing this!!</p><p>thank you to quills for letting me ramble about this in her dms at 4am</p><p>title is from <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/0UbS4oWIo2nUXeTxsvFaN1?si=nwlwAcuUTOSM2CZ_VU8GXg">california kids</a> by weezer</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moving out to California had never been the plan, but Neil and Kevin had done it anyway, and now they were walking the streets of a beach town, admiring the bright paint jobs that all of the buildings seemed to have. There were quite a few floral designs that decorated the walls of different restaurants, and there were, surprisingly, far fewer seashells than Neil had expected.</p><p>Jeremy, one of Kevin’s friends from college, was their housemate in the shared condo that they’d moved into. Jean and Jeremy got one half, and Neil and Kevin had the other. And, with a little too much enthusiasm for Neil’s liking, Jeremy had taken it upon himself to show them around their new home.</p><p>As they’d wandered around, Jeremy had pointed out surf shops and a pizza place that sold slices bigger than Neil’s head, and was currently talking about the pavilion where they held art fairs and public music next to the beach when they stopped by a greying brick building that looked a little too industrial next to the villas and pastel motels they’d seen all day.</p><p>“These are the bathrooms,” Jeremy said, his ever-present smile still on his face. “Personally, I have to use them, but they’re also where you’ll see a lot of tourists and some of the surfers using the outdoor showers. It’s a great place to people-watch.”</p><p>Kevin made a grossed-out face. “People watching by the bathrooms sounds weird as all hell, Jere.”</p><p>Jeremy shrugged. “Maybe so. Doesn’t change the truth though.” He pointed to a retro-looking silver trailer parked between the pavilion and the bathrooms. “That’s the board rental place, if you want to explore their options a little. I’ll be out soon.”</p><p>And with that, he left Neil and Kevin standing in the middle of a bunch of strangers.</p><p>Neil’s eyes wandered to the trailer again. “We could check it out,” he suggested.</p><p>Kevin crossed his arms and pouted for a moment. “I think I’m just going to sit here and wait for Jeremy. You can go cover if you want - I can still see you from here.”</p><p>The little bit of tension in Neil’s shoulders relaxed. He and Kevin had been through a lot together - Kevin’s batshit insane cousin, Neil’s batshit insane dad, and a whole supporting cast of people who were just as sadistic as their leaders had been. Neil’s kidnapping had been a fun addition to the mess, and neither Kevin nor Neil were keen on leaving the other where they couldn’t see them.</p><p>Neil left Kevin sitting on the planter by the bathrooms and walked over to the shop. He hadn’t even been aware that there were so many different types - he’d just assumed that there were surfboards and that was that.</p><p>“You gonna stare at my boogie boards all day or are you gonna rent one and get on with it?”</p><p>A burst of shock ran down Neil’s spine before he reminded himself that he was fine now. He turned to see the owner of the passively pissed-off voice: a short blond man with a bored face and and accusatory eyes. Neil wasn’t sure how he managed to look intimidating with the stick of a lollipop sticking out of his mouth.</p><p>“What the fuck is a boogie board?” </p><p><em> Good one, Neil </em>.</p><p>Blond And Bitter rolled his eyes and pulled the sucker out of his mouth, using it to point at the oblong board Neil was looking at. “<em> That </em> is a boogie board. And <em> I </em>-” he pointed the lollipop back at himself before popping back into his mouth. “- am Andrew, surf shop extraordinaire.”</p><p>--</p><p>Kevin sat on the cement block planter, shaded by some trees that decorated the outer edge of the open rinse station outside the bathrooms. He was looking around at the abundance of people just enjoying their day, while glancing over towards the silver trailer-slash-surf shop that Neil had gone over. People were chatting about their days and the food and the long drive, and every once in a while, someone was even interesting enough to catch his eye for a moment.</p><p>Waiting for Jeremy seemed to stretch out, and Kevin wondered if he should go over to Neil and look at the options for boards he’d never use. His dad would joke constantly about the fact that Kevin was half-Hawaiian and didn’t know how to surf, but Kevin argued back that it wasn’t his fault that he’d been raised in the middle of South Carolina.</p><p>He went to look at Neil again, and saw that a man - child? - had approached his best friend.</p><p>Another person passed by, cutting into Kevin’s line of sight, and drew Kevin’s eyes away from the duo as he walked past.</p><p>The man was short, but clearly an adult, with a worn out look on his face - like he’d been busy all day, but was finally able to relax a little. What caught Kevin’s attention was the fact that the man was clad in a wet suit from the waist down, the arms tied around its waist. It showed off his upper half, all arm muscles and tanned skin, with a massive tattoo taking up his chest.</p><p>His eyes went wide, and Kevin forced himself to look away as the stranger passed him. He didn’t need someone who looked local to think that he was weird before he’d even established himself.</p><p>Every once in a while though, Kevin found his eyes wandering over to the shower, and even caught himself almost staring at the man’s thighs as he shook his blond hair dry and wiped his face with his hand. Before Kevin could make and even bigger fool of himself, he spotted Jeremy and practically jumped up to greet him.</p><p>“Where’d Neil go?” Jeremy asked, tilting hs head a little.</p><p>“He went to check out the rental trailer, just to see it.”</p><p>Jeremy nodded. “Well, let’s go get him! There’s this awesome ice cream place that I’ve been dying to show you both since you told me you’d move in!”</p><p>He hooked his arm in Kevin’s and they walked the short path to the silver trailer, where Neil was talking with the short man from earlier in front of it. As they got closer, Kevin could see him pointing out pictures to Neil and explaining them.</p><p>“Neil!” Jeremy said excitedly, bounding up behind the redhead. “I see you’ve met Andrew. Andrew, since you’ve met Neil, let me introduce you to our other friend!” He motioned Kevin to stop standing behind him. “This is Kevin. Kevin, Andrew. He’s our local rental guy, and one of the surf instructors!”</p><p>Andrew nodded in acknowledgement.</p><p>“Kevin and Neil just moved here from South Carolina!” Jeremy said with a smile.</p><p>Andrew raised his eyebrows in an almost-smirk. Kevin got the feeling that he didn’t smile very often. He just barely noticed the lollipop stick that was in his mouth before Andrew pulled it out to speak. “To where? It’s not exactly cheap living here.”</p><p>Jeremy rolled his eyes like the answer should be obvious. “They share the other half of the condo Jean and I have. Helps make the rent even lower. We know each other from college. Aaron!”</p><p>Kevin was met with the sight of the same chest tattoo that he’d seen earlier, though he was now wearing a pair of black gym shorts in place of his unnecessarily tight wetsuit. </p><p>Of course Jeremy would know him. </p><p>And <em>of course</em>, Aaron and Andrew had to be twins, and Neil had to be making heart eyes at Andrew. They were both fucked.</p><p><em> Aaron </em> gave Jeremy a fist bump and a casual smile. “How’s it going, Knox? I heard you say you’ve got some new victims to you and Jean being gross and lovey-dovey all the time.”</p><p>Jeremy rolled his eyes yet again. “You’re one to talk, especially with how you acted around Katelyn in high school-” </p><p>Aaron’s eyes went wide. “Hey, hey! That was high school. We broke up, college changed me. I’m a new man.”</p><p>Jeremy laughed a little. “Are you two coming to the beach tonight?”</p><p>Kevin knew that Jeremy was a fan of cookouts on the beach - he had pictures of them hanging in his dorm room whenever Kevin would visit him in LA. They were his specialty - lots of people, lots of snacks, and lots of fun.</p><p>“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Andrew said. Kevin couldn't hear anything other than monotony, but apparently Jeremy knew that Andrew was being genuine.</p><p>“Great!” Jeremy said, bouncing a bit on the balls of his feet. “We’ll see you there!”</p><p>Kevin wondered if they could hear the <em> We? </em> that he and Neil shouted when they were far enough from the public area.</p><p>--</p><p>A few days after Jeremy’s cookout, Neil found himself doing inventory at the rental shop. Andrew and Aaron couldn’t pay him but Neil was fine just having something to do besides sit inside all day. He was marking off the surfboards that had been rented out, while Andrew dealt with paying customers at the front.</p><p>“Let me teach you to surf sometime,” Andrew said, putting one of their skimboards back into place.</p><p>“Huh?” Neil asked. He was terrible in the water. What the hell was Andrew thinking? “No offense, Mister Almighty Surf Instructor, but standing on a piece of foam in the middle of moving water doesn’t sound fun.”</p><p>“None taken," Andrew said. “Still, let me teach you. You’d probably be good at it.”</p><p>Neil ticked off the last off his surfboard check and and turned to face Andrew. “Probably” is the key word there. Not happening.”</p><p>Andrew rolled his eyes. “I’ll convince you someday.”</p><p>Neil held firm. “And that day is not today. Good luck.” Andrew could try all he wanted, Neil was not giving into his wishes just because he found him attractive.</p><p>“Come on,” Andrew said, and Neil was used to the change in boredom that meant he was whining just a little. “You. Me. Surfing and ice cream. It’s perfect.”</p><p>Neil narrowed his eyes at Andrew. “Is this your weird-ass way of asking me on a date?”</p><p>Andrew shrugged. “If you say yes, then yeah.”</p><p>Neil eyed Andrew up and down, similar to how Andrew had done to him the first time they met. “Yeah, sure. But I don’t like ice cream.”</p><p>--</p><p>Kevin didn’t know how he’d ended up on a secluded part of the beach with Aaron holding his hips as he steadied him on a board to work on foot placement, but here he was.</p><p>“Kevin, your stance sucks,” Aaron commented as his hands left Kevin’s waist.</p><p>“Thanks,” Kevin said sarcastically. “It’s why I hired you.”</p><p>“You’re not paying me at all!” Aaron gasped. “I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart. And maybe because you’re kind of cute.”</p><p>What little balance Kevin had disappeared, and he fell into the sand.</p><p>Aaron jumped over the board and knelt down to help him up. “Dude, are you okay?”</p><p>Kevin brushed sand from his shoulders. “Yeah, but what the hell did you just say?” He was dreaming. There was no way that the phrase <em> you’re kind of cute </em> had come out of Aaron’s mouth.</p><p>“I said you’re kind of cute. Can’t I be honest?”</p><p>Or maybe it had.</p><p>Kevin just stared at Aaron, dumbfounded. They’d only known each other for a few days. Was Kevin’s crush really that obvious, or was Aaron hoping that Kevin would just laugh it off? A million things and then some were running through Kevin’s head.</p><p>“Is this a date?” Kevin asked. It was the only thing he could think to say.</p><p>Aaron shook his head. “I mean, it wasn’t intended as one, but if I take you to lunch, would you consider calling it that?”</p><p>Kevin ran through all of the options in his head. Saying no would definitely lose him his chance with Aaron. Staying indecisive would just give mixed signals. A <em> yes </em> was daunting, but it felt right.</p><p>“Only if you’re paying.”</p><p>“Deal.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this will probably be expanded into a longer fic later on!!</p><p>come yell with me about aftg on <a href="https://twitter.com/cybbetta">twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.alvarezforthegame.tumblr.com">tumblr</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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